i've had a couple of gripes up my sleeve but i missed the boat and now, i've forgotten what they were. i vaguely remember the gist of it but like most things seen through hindsight, my gripe doesn't seem so gripe-worthy now. the sun will still rise, with or without Sydney's posse of idiot drivers, crazy patients.. oo!! speaking of which, something got revived. gripe-from-the-dead, here we go!
every so often, i come across a situation that makes me think long and hard, making me reflect on why i decided to become a doctor. this was one of them. it brought out the fighting spirit in me. i haven't felt it this strong in a very long while. i was angry, frustrated and wanted to do the best for the patient but wasn't allowed to do so by idiot family members. i find it very hard to believe and even harder to accept allowing a demented patient's family to take her home with a broken hip because they've refused to let her undergo surgery. they believed that the body is a miraculous thing and will heal itself, even if it's a broken neck of femur that will render the patient immobile and in constant pain if left unfixed surgically. they spat on the information provided, refusing to believe anything but their own warped ideas. it took myself, two registrars and the consultant a total of 2 hours or so to make them agree to the surgery. to make them understand that yes, the patient may die during or from surgery, but may also die without surgery. lying in bed all day for about 6 weeks or more is not exactly healthy for an 80-something year old who used to hobble minimally around the house. people like this tend to develop infections like pneumonia, blood clots and pressure sores from being in bed and immobile all day, not to mention the amount of pain stemming from the broken bone. for 6 weeks or more! would you subject your family member to that kind of torture? i can't believe those family members scoffed at the above, saying they knew better than their treating doctors and all of that was hogwash and they would like to take their mother home thank you.
anyway.. onto other things. happy things. like looking forward to halloween 2010. instead of my annual pumpkin carvings.. or whatever substitute i can find to carve, i'll be dressing up this year. yay! pictures may follow soon, depending on how they turn out.
dumdumdedum.. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment